Tim Flock, shown here in 1960, was one of the most successful and colorful drivers in stock-car racing history, winning two championships in seven seasons. / The Charlotte Observer via AP

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE - The most obvious question about the annual unveiling of five additions to the NASCAR Hall of Fame also is the most difficult to answer.

Did the voters get it right by electing the most justifiable class available?

It's impractical to analyze whether the worthiest inductees are chosen because there's virtually no criteria provided about their selection. Each year, voters are provided a three-ring binder with 50 pages chock full of biographical and statistical data.

There are no guidelines on what constitutes a Hall of Fame career.

But there does seem to be a philosophy that has emerged in the stock car shrine's nascent stages: The 2014 class will be only the fifth, bringing the total membership to 25.

Put the focus on the fame.

So far, it's a philosophy that's working in assembling a Hall of Fame whose dignitaries seem right even without a road map.

Despite a list of nominees that is top-heavy on "pioneers," i.e. men and women who toiled in obscurity to build NASCAR, the inductees being culled each year are those who earned headlines during their respective glory years, and each fills a role that every class should have.

As champion-turned-TV analyst Rusty Wallace was last year, Dale Jarrett was elected Wednesday in his first year on the ballot, giving the Hall of Fame an articulate and affable ambassador who can spread the racing gospel to millions via ESPN. Though his racing credentials are strong - three Daytona 500 victories, two Brickyard 400 wins and a 1999 championship - they also are validation for Jarrett as the face of this year's class - a la Wallace in 2012 and Darrell Waltrip in '11.

Two more overdue legends - Tim Flock and Fireball Roberts - were added Wednesday, proving when the old guard is gone, it's not forgotten by voters, who last year chose the late Herb Thomas and Buck Baker. Wednesday, they also remembered the feats of five-time champ Jack Ingram, the first full-time Nationwide Series driver elected. Ingram and Modified king Richie Evans (Class of 2012) make the Hall representative of NASCAR as a sanctioning body whose 65-year roots go far beyond its premier Sprint Cup division.

But the most important lesson from the Class of 2014's blueprint was the first-ballot election of Maurice Petty. The Hall's first engine builder follows on the heels of crew chiefs Dale Inman (2012) and Leonard Wood (2013) and served as another reminder that those who turn the wrenches are underrepresented. (The inaugural nominee list had no full-time crew chiefs.)

When the 21-member nominating committee, which consists mostly of NASCAR officials and track operators, chooses the next list of 25 nominees, it would be wise to add more mechanics (Smokey Yunick, Harry Hyde and Ray Evernham) and cull some of the executives, accountants and sponsor reps who delivered important work but not the crowd-pleasing achievements worthy of being celebrated at a $200 million temple of vroom in uptown Charlotte. It's possible to make strong cases for candidates who stretch far beyond the 25 nominees presented each year.

And it's impossible to reach a consensus on five or construct an informed prediction of the class.

It's why the two-hour discussion Wednesday among a 54-member panel of driving legends, industry heavyweights and media that preceded the vote produced the most contentious and spirited debate in the process' relatively brief history.

It's why Jarrett showed up for the announcement in a casual summer ensemble of white golf shoes, pants and a blue checkered shirt. (He dressed for his son's high school graduation party instead of a crowning achievement of his own).

It's why Hall of Fame voting day has become the most consistent way to stoke healthy and lively discourse in a sport that often desperately needs provocative story lines that don't latch onto the negative. But despite its nebulous nature, which seems apropos for a sport spawned by moonshiners outrunning the law and fueled by crew chiefs working in gray areas of the rule book, a loose template is emerging for each class. And it's positive because it focuses on an inherent and self-evident requirement for enshrinement.

The Hall of Fame should feature the famous.

*****

Nate Ryan's Hall of Fame ballot

USA TODAY Sports motor sports writer Nate Ryan is one of 54 members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame voting committee (including one online vote determined by fans). His ballot for the fifth class:

1. Fireball Roberts

Arguably stock car racing's first superstar, the affable Daytona Beach, Fla., native was a ticket-selling machine who drew crowds as far away as France (at Le Mans). Roberts notched 33 wins in 206 starts (including the 1962 Daytona 500 and Southern 500 twice). Roberts (his nickname came from being a fastball pitcher in baseball) was the first driver to sign a personal-services contract with a sponsor. He was killed at 35 in a crash during the 1964 World 600.

2. Curtis Turner

Often called the Babe Ruth of NASCAR, he was one of the sport's most colorful characters and hard-charging drivers. He drove in the first race in NASCAR's premier series in 1949 and earned his first victory three starts later. He is the only driver in Sprint Cup history to score two consecutive victories by leading every lap from the pole. The Floyd, Va., native's career suffered after he was banned by Bill France for four years for trying to organize a union.

3. Fred Lorenzen

NASCAR's original "Golden Boy" arrived 30 years before Jeff Gordon and was among the first fan favorites from outside the South. The Elmhurst, Ill., native scored 26 victories in 158 starts. He chose to retire from driving and enter real estate in an era before prize money and salaries were enough for many drivers to make a living. In 1964, he entered 16 of 62 races but won eight (including five consecutive).

4. Tim Flock

Among the goofiest drivers of NASCAR's early days, Flock drove eight races with Jocko Flocko, his pet monkey, strapped in beside him. A bootlegger as a teenager, the Fort Payne, Ala., native was a two-time champion who finished first in 39 of 187 starts (20.8%), including a staggering 18 wins in 39 starts in 1955. Flock claimed to have lost a 19th win when he stopped while leading in Raleigh, N.C., because Jocko got loose in the car and crawled on his owner.

5. Joe Weatherly

Another of the most magnetic personalities of NASCAR's early days, the "Clown Prince of Stock Car Racing" also could entertain a crowd behind the wheel. The versatile native of Norfolk, Va., racked up victories in the Modified (including two championships) and Convertible divisions before moving into NASCAR's premier series to capture 25 career victories and consecutive titles in 1962-63 (the only seasons he raced full time). He died the next year in a crash at Riverside International Raceway in California.